November 2016 – Australia Football Fans

AUSTRALIA DROP CAHILL AND OTHERS

Tim Cahill has been dropped by Australia coach Ange Postecoglou for the Socceroos’ upcoming World Cup qualifier against Thailand as part of four changes to his squad.

Postecoglou amended his previous 30-man squad to 23 on Wednesday, November 2nd with Brisbane Roar striker Jamie Maclaren being given a late promotion after scoring his opening goal of the A-League season against Perth Glory.

Tim Cahill has been dropped by Australia coach Ange Postecoglou for the Socceroos’ upcoming World Cup qualifier against Thailand as part of four changes to his squad.

FC Tokyo striker Nathan Burns, Perth Glory defender Josh Risdon and 1860 Munich defender Milos Degenek were also recalled into the squad.

The 36-year old Cahill has been left out of the squad for the match in Bangkok on November 15 as the forward looks to fully recover from soreness that saw him miss Melbourne City’s win over Adelaide United.

Australian squad further omitted ApostolosGiannou, Chris Ikonomidis and Ryan McGowan during their clashes with Saudi Arabia and Japan in October.

“Tim has been left out primarily because we have a 10-day lead in, which is very rare, and I want to be able to put the squad through a lot of work,” Postecoglou made known in a statement.

“He [Cahill] has done a lot of travelling for club and country and I have decided it is better he remains in Melbourne where he is being managed well to ensure he is back on the park as soon as possible and ready for us down the track.”

The coach further explained that Jamie Maclaren has begun the season well in Brisbane and transformed that form into a goal on the weekend so he will appear in the squad to give them options in front.

The other players to miss out from the preliminary squad are Aziz Behich, Luke Brattan, Jason Geria and Tommy Oar, whereby the coach believes the Australia team will for real miss their appearance.

Postecoglou Prefers Training

Australia’s national team manager Ange Postecoglou has decided to choose training sessions over a friendly game since he believes that the team does not have much time together. The manager recently named his 30-man squad for the World Cup 2018 qualification games.

After having started out well with victories against Iraq and UAE, the team has suffered in the last two outings after only managing draws against Saudi Arabia and the Japan. Admittedly, the final game against Japan was much more difficult for the team, but a return of just six points from a possible 12 leaves the national team in the second spot when it comes to the qualification group.

Postecoglou is very keen on reviving the team’s form and he has taken the unusual approach of avoiding a friendly game in order to get three or four additional training sessions.

Prior to the game against Thailand on November 11 (which you can still get tickets for if you click this link), it was expected that Australia would play in a friendly game in order to prepare for this match.

Instead, the team will be involved only in training sessions. Australia do not have any other fixture in the month of November, which provided the opportunity to schedule a friendly. A number of experienced players like Tim Cahill have been included in the 30-man squad for the game.

“We could have had a friendly in this window before the Thai game, but we chose not to have a game. As soon as the draw came out, I saw it as a little window for a couple of things. It gives us a chance to have a strong performance and get three points, so we want to make sure that all the usual issues that we have about players coming in and their conditioning, we can get over,” explained Postecoglou about his decision to cancel the friendlies.

Australia wants to win game

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has stated that he wants his team to beat Saudi Arabia.

said that he would not accept any result except the 3 points. He believes that he has a quality team and that they should be able to win this match that will count for the World Cup qualifiers.

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has stated that he wants his team to beat Saudi Arabia.

said that he would not accept any result except the 3 points. He believes that he has a quality team and that they should be able to win this match that will count for the World Cup qualifiers.

The coach is pleased with the impact that the Australian players have made in their respective league. He said that this should be a positive thing for the Australia team as this will ensure that the players are ready physically

He said that he is really happy with some players that have started their season well. He said that he would be counting on these players to help push the team forward.

He admitted that he might have problems in the future when the Australian season starts. He believes that there are around 10 players that play in the local league that can get into the team. It will all depend on how well they start their season.

Both Saudi Arabia and Australia has two wins from their opening games in the qualifiers, and Ange Postecoglou believes that his team has a good chance to continue their streak. He believes that it is up to the players to give their best on the pitch. He thinks that he has a quality squad and that they have prepared themselves well.

Ange Postecoglou admitted that it will be tough game and that Saudi Arabia is a good side. However, he knows that this is a good opportunity for Australia to make a decisive step towards qualification. He wants the team to stay focus on the objective and make sure that they give their all in order to win the game against Saudi Arabia.